The Global Forest Coalition is an informal and inclusive coalition of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and Indigenous Peoples’ Organizations (IPOs) engaged in the global policy debate related to forests. Please click here for the list of NGOs and IPOs which initiated this coalition. The coalition, which was established at the last session of the Intergovernmental Forum on Forests in February 2000, aims to facilitate the informed participation of a broad group of NGOs and IPOs in the global policy debate relating to forests, and to promote and monitor the implementation of the commitments made during this debate.

It is widely recognized that the lack of implementation of the numerous existing commitments in the field of forest policy, such as the Proposals for Action of the Intergovernmental Panel on Forests (IPF PfA) and the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) is intricately linked with deforestation and forest degradation. NGOs and IPOs can play a major role in increasing the effectiveness of international policy and law. Through monitoring, advocacy campaigns and raising public awareness they are able to draw national attention for often unknown international commitments and to create the political will to implement them. An important tool to advance these aims is formed by independent reports on the implementation of international policy proposals, which can increase pressure at both the international and the national level to implement international commitments.

Action and participation are two sides of the same coin. NGOs and IPOs which have been actively involved in the negotiations of international policy commitments are more interested in promoting the implementation of those commitments in their home country, than NGOs and IPOs which were excluded from the debate. Participation of NGOs and IPOs also serves to provide a ‘reality-check’ of international negotiations and to make them more responsive to the specific rights and needs of Indigenous Peoples, women and other major groups. Protecting and addressing these rights and needs forms an important prerequisite for just, equitable and sustainable forest policies. It is widely recognized that major groups and their caucuses, such as the women’s caucus and the CSD NGO Steering Committee, have played a major role in bringing new and emerging issues forward in the debate of the UN Commission on Sustainable Development and other UN meetings.

The main intergovernmental fora responsible for global forest policy have frequently emphasized that they welcome the active participation and contribution of major groups in their deliberations.

The Intergovernmental Forum on Forests has recommended that "the UNFF should ensure the opportunity to receive and consider inputs from representatives of major groups as identified in Agenda 21, in particular through the organisation of multi-stakeholder dialogues."

The preamble of the Biodiversity Convention stresses "the importance of, and the need to promote, international, regional and global cooperation among States and intergovernmental organizations and the non-governmental sector for the conservation of biological diversity and the sustainable use of its components". The Conference of the Parties of the Biodiversity Convention has often emphasized the need for active participation of NGOs and IPOs. Decision IV/7 of the Conference of the Parties on forest biological diversity "urges Parties, countries, international and regional organizations, major groups and other relevant bodies to collaborate in carrying out the tasks identified in the work programme". And in the Annex outlining the work programme it reemphasizes that "At all levels the work programme should be developed and implemented with relevant stakeholders".

Article 7 of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and article 4 (i) of the Kyoto Protocol give a clear mandate to the Conference of the Parties to the FCCC and the meeting of parties to the Kyoto Protocol to "seek and utilize, where appropriate, the services and cooperation of, and information provided by, competent international organizations and intergovernmental and non-governmental bodies."

Lastly, NGOs and IPOs can play a major role in the implementation of these international policy commitments themselves. For example, NGOs and IPOs have taken a lead role in the implementation of one of the few Proposals for Action of the IPF that have been fully implemented until now, the proposal to organize a global workshop on the underlying causes of forest loss. In many policy fields, NGOs and IPOs play a major role in project and program implementation. Their pilot projects often offer inspiring examples for national governments and the donor community. Particularly in the field of forest, small and medium scale projects implemented by NGOs and IPOs show a remarkably high rate of success compared to government-driven projects. Their experiences thus provide important lessons to be taken into account in the international policy debate on forests.

The objectives of the Global Forest Coalition are:

• to facilitate the informed participation of NGOs and IPOs in global policy fora related to forests;
• to promote and monitor the implementation of the commitments made at these global policy fora related to forests. 

In 1995, at the intersessional meeting for the third session of the UN Commission on Sustainable Development, a large group of NGOs and IPOs established the NGO Forest Working Group. Most of the Southern NGO/IPO-members of the NGO Forest Working Group were able to attend the meeting through a project funded by the Government of the Netherlands and administered by the Netherlands Committee for IUCN. The advocacy campaigns of this working group during the preparations for the third session of the CSD and the CSD itself, played an important role in the establishment of an Intergovernmental Panel on Forests. The NGO Forest Working Group played an active role throughout the entire IPF-process. It also played an active role in the first two sessions of the successor of the IPF, Intergovernmental Forum on Forests (IFF). In particular, they played a lead role in a specific theme which was of major interest to many of them: the underlying causes of deforestation and forest degradation.

Meanwhile, the original project which supported the participation of Southern NGOs and IPOs in the NGO Forest Working Group ended in December 1998. Due to the uncertain future of the global debate on forests and a number of practical reasons, no immediate follow-up project was formulated. While the Underlying Causes Initiative and a number of worthwhile initiatives by IUCN/WWF enabled some members of the NGO Forest Working Group to attend the last two sessions of the IFF, participation decreased. Likewise, few Southern NGOs and IPOs working on forest-related matters have been able to attend other important fora related to forests, such as the fifth Conference of the Parties of the Framework Convention on Climate Change.

It has been concluded by many, Governments and NGOs/IPOs alike, that the IFF has not been very successful in fulfilling its first mandate to promote the implementation of the IPF Proposals for Action. Aside from a few important initiatives by a small group of countries, hardly any attention has been paid to the implementation of the Proposals for Action of the IPF or the implementation of other existing commitments relating to forests. Throughout the IFF-process, NGOs and IPOs have persistently called for more action through concrete initiatives to implement the IPF Proposals for Action and other existing instruments in the field of forests. At IFF-3, 18 NGOs and IPOs presented a joint statement in which, among other things, they committed themselves to initiate a monitoring and review of the implementation, by selected countries in different regions, of the IPF Proposals for Action through independent country monitoring reports. The final version of these first reports were presented to the 8^th session of the UN Commission on Sustainable Development in April 2000. It is proposed to develop this project into a wider initiative covering a selection of 30 countries every two years.

The fourth session of the Intergovernmental Forum on Forests produced a report which recommends the Commission on Sustainable Development to establish an international arrangement on forests to promote the management, conservation and sustainable development of all types of forests and to strengthen long-term political commitment to this end. This international arrangement would include an intergovernmental body which may be called the United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF). The UNFF would meet, initially, every year and it would operate in a transparent and participatory manner. It is recommended that the UNFF should ensure the opportunity to receive and consider inputs from representatives of major groups as identified in Agenda 21, in particular through the organisation of multi-stakeholder dialogues.

Regretfully, it has not been clearly specified in the IFF report who would provide the financial support for the international arrangement as a whole. It is unlikely, however, that the international arrangement itself would be able to provide the travel support to NGOs and IPOs to attend the meetings of the UNFF.

There also is a permanent shortage of funding to facilitate the participation of NGOs and IPOs to meetings of other intergovernmental fora related to forests, in particular the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Framework Convention on Climate Change (FCCC). Commendable efforts have been made by coalitions like IUCN/WWF and Climate Action Network to facilitate some NGO and IPO participation in these fora, but the participation of NGOs and IPOs working on forest-related matters in FCCC-meetings, for example, has been very limited. In the light of the current discussion within the FCCC-framework on Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry activities, it is crucial a wider group of NGOs and IPOs working on forest-related matters becomes involved in this debate. Likewise, it is highly important NGOs and IPOs, which have been following the IPF/IFF debate and/or the FCCC-debate, become more involved in the meetings of the CBD, especially during the preparations for the CBD Forest Summit in 2002.

At the fourth session of the Intergovernmental Forum on Forests, a large group of NGOs and IPOs reaffirmed the need for a structure to facilitate cooperation between them and enable their informed participation in global fora related to forests, including the UNFF. It was suggested to focus the intersessional work of this coalition on the independent monitoring project, as well as on some of the activities of the Underlying Causes Initiative. They asked the former coordinator of the NGO Forest Working Group, Miguel Lovera, who is now based in Paraguay, to elaborate a project proposal and establish a secretariat for the coalition.

The activities of the Global Forest Coalition will include:

Every 2 years, 30 independent monitoring reports on the implementation of the Proposals for Action of the Intergovernmental Panel on Forests, and the forest-related commitments of the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Framework Convention on Climate Change will be produced. On basis of the experiences with the initial initiative taken by NGOs/IPOs in 1999 and the feedback upon the initial draft report, a concise methodology will be developed to ensure the reports are accurate and present a fair picture of the state of implementation of these instruments in the respective countries. Such a methodology will include an adequate process to enable governments to comment upon the draft report. Their contributions will be made identifiable in the reports. The methodology will also include an appropriate process of independent peer review of the drafts.

The reports which will be published in 2002 will focus particularly on the implementation of the work programme for Forest Biological Diversity under the Convention on Biological Diversity, the implementation of the Biodiversity Convention itself as it relates to forests, and the Proposals for Action of the Intergovernmental Panel on Forests, which have been recognized as a basis for the implementation of the Biodiversity Convention at the national level.

The reports will be submitted to the 6^th Conference of the Parties of the Convention on Biodiversity and to the UN Forum on Forests when it monitors the implementation of international commitments relating to forests. They will also be submitted to the UN General Assembly Special Session to review the implementation of Agenda 21 in 2002 (Rio plus 10), other relevant meetings of the CBD and to the relevant meetings of the Framework Convention on Climate Change.

The full reports will be published in the main language or second language of the country itself (English, Spanish, French or Russian). Summaries of all the reports will be compiled into a global report with a broader perspective and translated into all four languages. A side event and a press conference will be organized to present and discuss the monitoring reports. The country monitors will be asked to attend these meetings and the intergovernmental forum itself, so that they can respond to any questions that may need further clarification and provide additional information.

B) Informing a broad group of NGOs and IPOs about the Global Policy Debate on Forests

The establishment of four complementary means of communication is proposed:

• every 3 months, a quarterly newsletter will be published in English, Spanish, French and Russian with a concise overview of the most important developments in global forest policy.
• Approximately a month before every major global policy forum related to forests a short briefing note will be published and disseminated in English, Spanish, French and Russian. This briefing note will inform people about the background of the meeting and some of the main issues at stake;
• Approximately twice a year, a more comprehensive dossier on the background and policy issues of a specific major global forum related to forests will be published;
• Aside from the open listserver of the CSD NGO Steering Committee forest caucus, which will form an important means for communication, a separate closed listserver will be set up for strategy discussions amongst the involved IPOs and NGOs.

Considering its cost-effectiveness, dissemination of the above-mentioned materials will primarily take place through the Internet. Only where necessary, materials will be published and disseminated in print.

A total of 4 IPO and 10 NGO representatives (2 from Africa, 2 from South and East Asia, 2 from Oceania, 2 from Latin America and the Caribbean and 2 from the Central Asia and Central and Eastern Europe) will be sponsored per meeting. Four meetings per year will be targeted, including the meetings of the UNFF, and relevant meetings of the Convention on Biological Diversity, and the Framework Convention on Climate Change. The representatives will be selected through self-selection processes within their regions/constituency, taking into account the need to ensure inclusiveness of the process in terms of a proper balance between experienced people and new people, and gender balance. Concrete efforts will be made to involve new people in these processes, including through the above-mentioned country monitoring processes. The secretariat of the Global Forest Coalition, in coordination with other NGO/IPO coalitions where appropriate, will make practical arrangements like securing meeting rooms and office equipment. The Coalition will also organize briefings and trainings about advocacy work that will promote the effective participation of the invited IPOs and NGOs, particularly IPOs and NGOs who do not have experience with intergovernmental processes.

Special attention will be paid to facilitating well-prepared and effective participation in the multistakeholder dialogue sessions of the UNFF and other relevant multistakeholder events.

Special efforts will also be made to strengthen links and cooperation between NGOs and IPOs from the same region.

As a facilitating mechanism, the Global Forest Coalition will enable a more active and effective participation of Southern NGOs and Indigenous Peoples´ Organizations in numerous existing NGO, IPO or multistakeholder initiatives and partnerships in the field of forest and biodiversity policy, including:

• the Underlying Causes Initiative;
• the Global Biodiversity Forum;
• the Forest Stewardship Council;
• the CBD working group on traditional knowledge;
• the existing initiatives by Indigenous Peoples´ networks to increase participation of IPOs in the FCCC negotiations (the follow-up to the Quito meeting in May 2000);
• the joint campaign of the World Rainforest Movement and Friends of the Earth International on tree plantations;
• the initiative by the Latin American Forest Network to promote the implementation of the IPF Proposals for Action in Latin America;
• the joint campaign of an ad-hoc coalition of NGOs and IPOs for improved major group participation in the UNFF (the Ottawa process). 

The Global Forest Coalition will provide a framework to enable and facilitate the elaboration of joint thematic advocacy campaigns on new and emerging issues of NGOs and IPOs at global policy fora related to forests. Concrete activities will include the effective and well-prepared participation in the proposed multistakeholder dialogue sessions, the organization of side events, the dissemination of reports and other policy materials and other forms of advocacy work. The recommendations and action proposals of the Global Workshop on the Underlying Causes of Deforestation and Forest Degradation will provide an important basis for these advocacy campaigns.

The group of NGOs and IPOs that established the Global Forest Coalition considers it of utmost important to maintain a loose, informal, and inclusive structure. Therefore, the coalition does not maintain a formal membership-list, but will be open for any interested IPO or NGO to join.

The coalition will seek close cooperation with existing NGO and IPO networks in the field of forests. Networks and coalitions which participate or will be invited to participate in the Coalition include:

• the International Alliance of Tribal-Indigenous Peoples of the Tropical Forests;
• the World Rainforest Movement;
• the Latin American Forest Network;
• the African Forest Action Network;
• the Taiga Rescue Network;
• the Boreal Forest Network;
• the Biodiversity Action Network-US;
• the Indigenous Peoples´ Biodiversity Network;
• the CSD NGO Steering Committee;
• the Climate Action Network.

The founding groups of the Global Forest Coalition include steering committee and other active members of all these existing networks. 

An independent secretariat has been established, which will be responsible for the implementation of the activities of the global forest coalition. The coordinator, Miguel Lovera, has coordinated the NGO Forest Working Group from its establishment in 1995 onwards. He has also been actively involved in the Global Secretariat for the Underlying Causes Initiative and he is one of the two focal points for NGOs and IPOs to liaise with the Interagency Task Force on Forests. Fundacion Yvy Pora, a Paraguayan foundation providing assistance to NGOs in the field of financial administration, will assist the coordinator in accounting and financial management.

The Founding Members have requested the World Rainforest Movement, a well-known organization in the field of international forest policy, to be the formal host organization for the Global Forest Coalition and submit the project proposal for the Global Forest Coalition on their behalf. The World Rainforest Movement will thus be the legal entity responsible for the administration for the project.

Seven regional focal points and two Indigenous Peoples’ focal points will take up the responsibility for:

• translating and disseminating information within the regions and within their constituency;
• coordinating the independent monitoring reports within their region; and
• organizing the self-selection processes within their regions and constituencies to elect participants to be sponsored for global meetings.

The coordinator and focal points will be elected through annual elections to be held at a major global forest event. 

A Coordination Group has been established, which consists of the focal points, the coordinator and a representative of the host organization of the Global Forest Coalition. The Coordination Group will be responsible for the elaboration and determination of the work program of the Global Forest Coalition.

Miguel and Simone Lovera
Legmeerstraat 77,
1058NC Amsterdam,
tel / fax: 31-20-6140264
Email: lovera1@conexion.com.py